Cheech Marin became famous by pairing with Tommy Chong in popular comedy duo Cheech & Chong. One of their last acts together was “Born in East L.A.”, 1985 song which parodied Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”. Two years later, now a solo artist, Marin used the lyrics as an inspiration for his film directorial debut, eponymous 1987 comedy.
Marin also stars in the film as Rudy Robles, third generation Mexican American who lives in East Los Angeles and works as car mechanic. One day his mother (played by Lupe Ontiveros) asks him to pick up their Mexican cousin Javier (played by Paul Rodriguez) in a factory. Rudy goes there and gets arrested during the raid conducted by US Immigration and Naturalization Service. Since he forgot to take his wallet, nobody believes him when he claims that he is actually a US citizen. He is unceremoniously deported to Tijuana, Mexico, where he is forced to work all kinds of odd jobs in order to pay “coyote” that would smuggle him back home. His attempts to return fail, but he befriends Jimmy (played by Daniel Stern), American bar owner who agrees to help him for a price, and also falls in love with beautiful Salvadoran waitress Dolores (played by Kamala Lopez) who also wants to come to America.
In a world where so much blood is being spilled over the location of certain borders, it is somewhat refreshing to watch a film which treats the whole concept of borders as something detrimental to humanity. Marin, who also wrote the screenplay, was obviously inspired by the experiences of US Latino community in his native California, many of them (unlike Marin himself) being immigrants subjected to prejudice and government persecution. He, however, doesn’t allow that this pro-immigrant message comes at the expense of comedy. Some of the jokes don’t work and won’t be understood outside the context of 1980s America (like with character of Bible-quoting extortionist played by Tony Plana, obviously inspired by real life televangelists) and some of the subplots, like the one involving Javier, are undeveloped. However, general quality of film is satisfactory. Another commendable element of the film is Marin’s attempt to transcend ethnic and cultural boundaries, which could be seen in scene where his character teach prospective Chinese immigrants (one of them played by Jason Scott Lee) how to pass as inhabitants of his neighbourhood or when he teaches Mexican folk band how to play rock standards. Furthermore, Marin maintains quick pace and Born in East L.A. is very short film, making its shortcomings less noticeable. Although the ending is affected by some choppy editing, this film leaves satisfactory impression.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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